"Hey! Grandma Jane! People are looking for you!" I yelled out. I used my [Yggdrasil's Bone] to light a path while shooting weak bullets directly at the ground. I looked around, trying to analyze any footprints. I wasn't good at tracking... but it seemed like Ruby was.
Ruby was almost constantly looking at the ground. She obviously was tracking something but was silent the entire time. Soul stopped in front of me as Ruby walked in front of her while facing the ground.
"Hey, you can speak to us you know," Soul mumbled.
"You're right. Shut up, I have a trail." Ruby replied. I was surprised by her vulgarity, but it was pretty funny nonetheless. I followed right behind Ruby as she walked by a tree and paused in her tracks. I bumped into her and apologized, but she didn't react at all.
"Move," Ruby told me. I silently stepped back as she pulled out her flimsy staff. "Somebody is a lot more agile than they're letting on. Take this. [Attribute]." Ruby added.
"Air user, located six meters above us. It's the Grandma, she's up in the tree." Ruby said.
"How in the hell did you use [Attribute] on a target like that? And so accurately?!" Soul asked Ruby. She smugly smiled while continuing to point up.
"Sounds like your jealous Souly... Ipa, climb up there and knock her down." Ruby told Ipa. He nodded and quickly ran up the tree, pushing Jane down. I caught her after using [Blessing] on myself to boost my strength and caught the falling granny right before she hit the ground.
"Nice job, Ruby. Now, as for the elderly woman in the tree... why were you there?" I asked Jane. She shrugged with a confused look.
"I thought I heard a fish up here," Jane told us. We all looked at each other in disbelief, knowing she was lying through her flattened teeth.
"Well, no matter. You left your granddaughter unattended in an abandoned house, and we've returned her to the village you're in. Let's head back together." I told Jane.
"Fine, but did we get enough fish?" Jane asked us. Ipa turned to Ken and nodded. What were they planning?
I watched Ken pull out a spear from his back and started stabbing the water with speed I didn't know he was capable of, along with pinpoint accuracy that collected over ten fish. He put them in a leather bag carried by Ipa and slung it over his back, nodding at Ipa again. The weirdest part was he did that in less than five minutes.
"We have enough fish now. Alright, let's go." I told Jane. Everybody started to walk back to the village now. What a weird day... or night, I guess. I was still confused about why Jane's granddaughter was in the house by the street and not in the trees with her grandma, but I didn't care so long as we got enough food.
"So, Grandma Jane, how long have you been living here in this village?" I asked her, trying to start up a conversation on the way back.
"Oh, about a few years now. Our original home was taken in by Olympia, or whatever it's called. Hey, I'm hungry, are we home yet?" Jane asked us. So, she wasn't too talkative, was she?
"Hey Anima, will we be able to sleep in the village tonight?" Ruby asked me. I swear, that girl was almost always asking me when we could take a break next.
I felt like I was always the only one talking and it bothered me all the time. On Earth, I wasn't a very social person, but it felt like it didn't matter as much here. Obviously, I've gone over that a million times in my head, knowing this world was just as important as Earth, but it still felt easier to talk to the people here.
"Ah! We're here!" Ipa called out. He ran back into the straw-housed village and sat near the fire in the middle. They were cooking a small boar on a wide stick over the fire and everybody seemed happy when Jane returned. The granddaughter was still asleep, but the older man welcomed Jane back with a taste of some sort of vegetable that looked otherworldly. Like a potato, or something.
"Ah! The guy and his friends are back! We just finished up with dinner, come and join us!" The old man shouted with a kebab stick in his hand. I shrugged off the weird atmosphere I constantly found myself in and sat in the dirt right next to Jane.
"Where is Janice? I swear every time I eat I can never find that damn girl." Jane said. Janice must've been her granddaughter.
Jane screamed out for Janice and she came barreling out of the front door of one of the straw huts. Relieved once she talked to Jane about her yelling, Janice came to sit down next to me as well.
"Thanks for bringing my grandma back... may I ask what you were doing on that road?" Janice asked me. I paused, shaking my head while crossing my arms with a piece of cut-up meat in my mouth. The fire crackled as I looked at the two women.
"Before I answer your question, you want to tell me why you were in an abandoned house far away from your village, and why you were up in a tree while trying to catch fish?!" I scolded the two, and they both seemed equally as sad as I rose my voice in irritation.
"Well, I was in the house because it was our meeting point..." Janice sulked.
"I got lost. I'm blind." Jane told me. I turned to the two after closing my eyes in even more irritation.
"Just meet back at the village! And how did you get lost with elevation?! Jeez, you two... look, is New Olympia up ahead?" I asked the two. Soul bumped me in my shoulder from behind.
"I know where I'm going, you know?" She whispered in my ear. I shook her off. I completely forgot she was here.
"Yeah, New Olympia is up ahead... but if you don't have money, you won't be treated like a human or citizen, I guess. New Olympia is home to a ton of demi-human and monster-humans, but only the rich live there in the important part. For the next month, they have their "God Festival" going on, so it'll be a really pretty town to drop in and visit for a bit." Janice told me while eating her own meat skewer.
"God Festival? Sounds pretentious... but I guess it makes sense, considering Zeus is a part of New Olympia, right? Canyon of Zeus, or whatever it's called." I commented.
"Yeah! The main attraction! A magic trick performed by a person who goes by the name 'Zeus'. He's a pretty funny guy." Janice added on.
"Main attraction... so it isn't a place?" I asked again. Jane shook her head this time.
"Back when I wasn't as blind as a bat, Canyon of Zeus was performed by the strongest mage in the entire city. This year around, my grandson gets to play the part of Zeus! Isn't that exciting?! We got free tickets and everything." Jane said. She pulled out slips of paper from her pocket, but they were completely blank. When I turned to Janice for an explanation, she pulled out the real tickets.
"We have three tickets. Anima, if you're looking to come with us, you can! I mean, after all, you're the one who brought us together!" Janice commented. I turned to Ipa, then looked back at the fire.
This was a surefire side quest if I've ever seen one. Helping a village out for an item that would benefit my main quest... this was totally a side quest! Ah, but would that be rude to assume they aren't important enough to be on the main quest? It feels kind of mean to even call this a quest at all, I told myself I wouldn't compare this world to a game anymore, but it was so easy, especially when people like this existed.
"I'll go, but I'll be getting tickets somehow for my other friends if that's alright. So, when are we going?" I asked them. Both Janice and Jane smiled.
Synchronously, they yelled out, "Tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow huh... that's fine. So, we have thirty days to attend this festival... got it, let's meet your grandson, I think he can help me." I commented.
Filled with newfound vigor and a goal, Ruby and the others chanted a victory phrase that I'd never heard before. "We did it! We did it! Thank the Gods we did it!" They said.
Maybe this would be fun.